(Topic ID: 33697)

DM new rules, new code

By jamescardona

11 years ago


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  • 399 posts
  • 118 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by Laithan
  • Topic is favorited by 70 Pinsiders

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There are 399 posts in this topic. You are on page 6 of 8.
#251 9 years ago

Any update on this? I'm dying to try out the new animations

#252 9 years ago

one of the things that was requested was to add more bling to the code. I am currently writing several brief "light show" type lighting sequences. Once I get this done I will send the code to Mario and battle test it for a few days, then it will be released.

#253 9 years ago

I just recently picked this game up. looking forward on info on the results and looks like that will be soon .. Sahweeeeeet . Good work Fella and good luck

#254 9 years ago
Quoted from jamescardona:

I am currently writing several brief "light show" type lighting sequences.

Oh please bring back Demolition Time

#255 9 years ago
Quoted from Patofnaud:

Oh please bring back Demolition Time

That would be an awesome addition to an allready awesome code. Still running the 0.95 here. Havent grown tired of it yet, really nice. Thanks again James!

#256 9 years ago
Quoted from jamescardona:

I am currently writing several brief "light show" type lighting sequences.

This is going to make a great code even better. Thanks again!! I can't wait..

#257 9 years ago

here is just a quick update. that's again to everyone who has given me feedback as that is what most of these changes are based on. And, like I said before, the below is not a wish list but things that are already fixed and running on my machine. Once I run it for a few weeks and verify that no bugs pop up then it will be released.

things that are fixed:

Added the following new animations created by Mario:
explode hit
combos (4 different ones)
fortress multiball start
cryo claw
jackpot
super jackpot
car crash
ball save
shoot again
plunge ball
rollovers completed
rollovers
quick freeze ready / quick freeze
skillshot
standups (a bunch of different ones)
jets
jets completed

Added lighting effects (bling, bling) to certain effects (previously only ball lock and computer award had specific lighting effects):
ball lock
computer award
MB jackpot
MB super jackpot
super jets hit
acmag hit
car chase
standup frenzy hit
explode hit
cryo claw start

Fixed problem where sometimes the skill shot timer stayed on too long.

For video modes, now some points are awarded for activating a video mode even if you abort

Fixed bug with computer award when in tournament mode where previously the “next” computer award displayed was incorrect

Changed the way arrows light during MBs. Previously combos were disabled in MB and both the arrows and jackpot lights served to indicate a jackpot. Now the arrows do not follow the jackpots and combos remain in effect during MB

Fixed problem with capture simon arrows. Previously during capture simon mode, the combo portion of the arrow control would take over when it shouldn't have. This confused the player as they didn't know if the arrow is lit for a combo or for capture simon.

During MB start, made ball eject faster from top popper so it comes out with balls being served from shooter lane. Previously there was a 3 second delay for the top popper ball.

Added top popper mystery awards (you look great today, enhance your calm, 1 credit violation) These are awarded if the top popper is hit when nothing is lit and score 1 million points. The speech sounds for “enhance your calm” and “1 credit violation” are only present if the swear roms are installed and “extra sounds” or “swear sounds” is selected “on” in menu.

stopped plunger from double firing after launching a ball.

Changed car crash scoring as follows: Previously car crash scoring was reset to 0 at start of car chase but not reset at end of ball. Switched that so that score is decreased by one level on end ball but not changed at all if car chase mode is started. Also, multiplier stays until end of game once received (same as before).

Computer award light now does not flash when computer award is disabled – such as in MB.

Launch button now flashes when machine is ready to launch ball.

Added a few extra levels to kaboom to make it more difficult. Previously there were only 3 difficulties. Now there are 6 (last ones nearly impossible). (Personally, Level 3 feels about right to me so that is where I set my start level in the feature menu).

Added extra bonus award for completing either kaboom or shooting video mode (catch all bombs or shoot all baddies and increase your VM score by 50%)

Made claw move more smoothly when controlled by the player.(YESSSS!)

Changed VM order such that which VM the player sees first is randomly chosen

superjets, explode, car chase modes were changed to a single ball timed mode only – doesn’t disable claw or VM as before.

Moved line on DMD so there is more space between words.

Car crash award (and Triple) now displays points awarded

Changed “light arrows” computer award so that not only does it light the arrows (which is mighty lame) but it also awards 3 million points.

Prevented quotes from getting interrupted by other quotes by eliminating preempting by sound calls that have equal priority. This causes less quotes to be said because they will only speak when channel is free. Preemption will still work for very important sound calls as they have higher priorities.

Flasher now flashes to warn of ball release after video mode.

Now able to hold flipper buttons down to fast forward through Computer Award Bonus just the same as you can the end of ball bonus.

#258 9 years ago
Quoted from Patofnaud:

Oh please bring back Demolition Time

Is Demolition time still in the new code without the light show, or is it gone all together?

If the light show is gone, that I will miss.. but everything else sounds awesome!

#259 9 years ago

this update will be sweet when it's dialed in!

#260 9 years ago

Thanks James, looking forward to the final code. Great work

#261 9 years ago

I suspect all/most of the delay is my fault actually. My job is currently killing me... anyway, I'm off to Las Vegas (NAB show) and next weekend (12th) to San Francisco. When I'm back after this recreational two weeks, I hope my spare time will allow to continue to work on the rest of the animations...

There are a few things I'd like to share - if you're interested in some insights into the creation of the animations:

To quote Rudy: oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, 128x32 pixel is low res. 3 colors don't help either. Did I mention the 4 ratio?
I had a very steep learning curve. Things I drew and made storyboards of looked really good, yet the resolution is so limited, that they just didn't work on a DMD.

I started to study each and every DMD animation,I could get my eyes on... Dirty Harry, the shadow, WCS94, etc. damn, they are really top notch! Then I had to rethink and redo almost everything.

I had quite a few cool animations, that were just tooooooo long - therefore wouldn't work either.

But hey, it's a hobby project, so I thought, why not do every anim at least twice (two completely different ideas)?

I did the underground, prison (stage where the final fight was), castle and museum completely in 3d, just to realize you can't see a thing on the DMD anymore

To cut a long story short, as long as you and James have the patience, I promise the anims will get better and better...and done!

btw, if you know a nice pinball place - and a few beers - I have to visit as an Austrian tourist in SF, let me know

#262 9 years ago
Quoted from mayuh:

btw, if you know a nice pinball place - and a few beers - I have to visit as an Austrian tourist in SF, let me know

Lots in the Bay Area right now, probably best place to hit in SF though is Free Gold Watch. I wish SoCal had the location play of my up North home.

#263 9 years ago

Not sure if this will help, but I have a tool that can convert bitmap images (128x32) into hex code for DMD's. It's not too bad once you define a palette in photoshop and convert source images to that (if using photos as source material). The tool can be re-written to output the data in whatever format you need for all intents and purposes.

#264 9 years ago
Quoted from mayuh:

To quote Rudy: oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy

I feel your pain. I was working on a DE Star Wars game about a year ago. Man, that's a tough space to work with. I, too, ended up being really impressed with what those who did this 20+ years ago went through.

Dan

#265 9 years ago
Quoted from SteveP3:

Not sure if this will help, but I have a tool that can convert bitmap images (128x32) into hex code for DMD's. It's not too bad once you define a palette in photoshop and convert source images to that (if using photos as source material). The tool can be re-written to output the data in whatever format you need for all intents and purposes.

Thanks, for the offer but, it's not the technical workflow. That one was 'mastered' quite easily with preview and everything...

What the real pain was, that I'm used to some sort of creative freedom and thinking in shades (and cartoonish outlines) is something I didn't experience since Amiga/C64 times...
And that all took way too long... Lol!

#266 9 years ago

How do I purchase this when its ready? Thanks

#267 9 years ago
Quoted from mayuh:

Thanks, for the offer but, it's not the technical workflow. That one was 'mastered' quite easily with preview and everything...
What the real pain was, that I'm used to some sort of creative freedom and thinking in shades (and cartoonish outlines) is something I didn't experience since Amiga/C64 times...
And that all took way too long... Lol!

Gotcha, yeah it takes some getting used to. The biggest thing that helped me was learning when to use different gradient types in photoshop when converting photographic stuff (ie - random/pattern/diffuse) when converting images to a fixed small palette. Pattern works really well at simulating the look of the WPC stuff I found.

It is handy being able to animate what you create and see what it would look like so I imagine we're using similar tools (I programmed mine to do the same kind of thing, load in frames then press play to show the animation running).

An example of an old version of the program, I haven't updated the website for it in ages.
http://cyborgpinball.comoj.com/program.gif

Anyways, let me know if you guys need any dotwork help down the road. Sounds like you probably have it covered but the offer stands.

#268 9 years ago
Quoted from msj2222:

How do I purchase this when its ready? Thanks

send me PM

1 week later
#269 9 years ago

How about making one mode playable only by handles?

#270 9 years ago

Here's my demo man I can't wait for the next version of this code

#271 9 years ago

Looking to get these Roms. Sent you a PM James if you can get back to me. Thanks, Chris

#272 9 years ago

Hello James, I really appreciate your work with Demolition Man. I have some ideas about changing rules to have a more challenging and rewarding game.

- I think it's very needed a final Wizard Mode that starts when you complete all the game (all 4 multiballs + all 5 claw modes + all 2 non claw modes). This can be "Back to the Fridge". After playing this timed "final wizard mode", flipper dies, all balls drain and the game is over.

-Your original "Back to the Fridge" can be reverted to the original Williams "Demolition Jackpot" that is enabled when all 4 multiballs are played.

- I think it's better to keep Demolition Time Wizard Mode as the Williams original but starting with a 2-ball multiball and with an "Add a Ball" feature by completing all five yellow standup targets.

-I think the four multiballs can have better diversification. I also like that each multiball starts with a fixed amount of balls so Fortress will be only 2-balls, Museum 3-balls, Wasteland 4-balls and Cryoprison 5-balls. This can be intended like a reward to starting more multiballs. Like the original for every ball freezed more than the required number will only increase the Jackpot value.

I'm thinking about the following multiballs rules, increasing in difficulty:

-Fortress Multiball: all Jackpots lit, shoot them all to light Super Jackpot

-Museum Multiball: starts with 3 jackpots lit, each time a jackpot is hit relight randomly 3 jackpots, Super Jackpot is lit after 5 Jackpots. After first Super Jackpot, each Jackpot will relight only 2 random Jackpots instead of 3.

-Wasteland Multiball: Jackpot is lit only at the Computer. Hitting target in Car Crash or in the Eyeball will add a lit Jackpot at random. Jackpots will unlit when collected. Super Jackpot is lit after 4 Jackpots.

-Cryoprison Multiball: One jackpot is randomly chosen and stays lit for 7 seconds for you to shoot. When time expires another jackpot is randomly lit for 7 seconds. After shooting 3 jackpots the super jackpot is lit.

I think will be more interesting if the two claw modes where the ball stops before starting (Standup Frenzy and Capture Simon) must be played only with handles. This forces to mix from the usual gameplay of the cabinet flipper buttons.

I would be interested to know your opinion and the opinion of other people interested in your software.
I think these changes would make it even more beautiful and rewarding

#273 9 years ago

I find that on my DM, the ball launch goes around the orbit maybe 70% of the time. It sometimes gets stuck and instead head to the MTL rollovers, thus missing out on the skill shot chance. It seems like this is a common issue with DM), and perhaps is something to take advantage of with the new code. Basically just add a skill shot with the MTL rollovers, light one up on launch and see if it can be hit on ball launch.

A better fix would be to just have the ball hit the orbit every time. Seems better after a fresh wax, but even then the problem persists.

#274 9 years ago
Quoted from brg126:

I find that on my DM, the ball launch goes around the orbit maybe 70% of the time. It sometimes gets stuck and instead head to the MTL rollovers, thus missing out on the skill shot chance. It seems like this is a common issue with DM), and perhaps is something to take advantage of with the new code. Basically just add a skill shot with the MTL rollovers, light one up on launch and see if it can be hit on ball launch.
A better fix would be to just have the ball hit the orbit every time. Seems better after a fresh wax, but even then the problem persists.

Working on a shooter lane guide with Cliffy now on DM so the ball will quit hammering the left post on the way up the ramp.

#275 9 years ago

alright all, got .99 release ready. I will start sending it out in the next few days.
If you want it - send me a PM. For those who have sent me a PM in the last few weeks I will be responding tomorrow to everyone.

I am calling this one .99 and not 1.0 as you can see. So this may or may not be the last release. I am calling this one .99 because I could see some possible changes in the future as follows:

1) pretty much no one but me has tried this code with a shaker. I think once PPS releases their shakers and people get them in their machines there may be some comments/feedback which leads to some changes to the shaker code. Of course, PPS may never sell shakers or they may sell them 2 or 3 years from now. I don't know.

2) Mario may or may not give me some more animations to put in the game. If he chooses not to, then that is cool. I understand that what he gave me so far was a tremendous amount of work and he is not getting one nickel for it so how much more can we ask?

So then, there may be a future release based on the two above "maybes" but I suspect that "if" it happens that it will be pretty far away down the road, if at all. So this is the release for now and it may possibly be the last one.

I am really happy with how the code has come out and I want to thank every one who gave me feedback along the way, even the hyper-negative people. I rather have someone let me know that they hate some feature of the game and be overly blunt than to let it sit there and make the game suck.

I feel like I have learned a lot along the way and I think there would have been a lot of things I would have done differently if I knew then what I know now. The next game I code will definitely be better and again, I want to thank all of you for pointing out things that I wasn't aware of and developing my pinball coding skills.

#276 9 years ago

James, I will be looking forward to your mail. This code has been a great boon and really makes ones DM special. Maybe someday you can make it so it loads in a larger ROM with both factory and the FreeWPC boot select-able? Naaaa must be a dream.

#277 9 years ago

I'm back from vacation...
I'll resume work on more DM anims next week. Promised! I love this project! At this time of the year, the three striped eyewear company is pretty cruel to me when I think of my spare time left...

Cheers,
Mario.

#278 9 years ago
Quoted from jamescardona:

alright all, got .99 release ready. I will start sending it out in the next few days.
If you want it - send me a PM. For those who have sent me a PM in the last few weeks I will be responding tomorrow to everyone.
I am calling this one .99 and not 1.0 as you can see. So this may or may not be the last release. I am calling this one .99 because I could see some possible changes in the future as follows:
1) pretty much no one but me has tried this code with a shaker. I think once PPS releases their shakers and people get them in their machines there may be some comments/feedback which leads to some changes to the shaker code. Of course, PPS may never sell shakers or they may sell them 2 or 3 years from now. I don't know.
2) Mario may or may not give me some more animations to put in the game. If he chooses not to, then that is cool. I understand that what he gave me so far was a tremendous amount of work and he is not getting one nickel for it so how much more can we ask?
So then, there may be a future release based on the two above "maybes" but I suspect that "if" it happens that it will be pretty far away down the road, if at all. So this is the release for now and it may possibly be the last one.
I am really happy with how the code has come out and I want to thank every one who gave me feedback along the way, even the hyper-negative people. I rather have someone let me know that they hate some feature of the game and be overly blunt than to let it sit there and make the game suck.
I feel like I have learned a lot along the way and I think there would have been a lot of things I would have done differently if I knew then what I know now. The next game I code will definitely be better and again, I want to thank all of you for pointing out things that I wasn't aware of and developing my pinball coding skills.

James - Are you going to be sending this out automatically to the beta email list or are you starting a new one?

Jaz

#279 9 years ago

I haven't had time to play with this in quite a while. My DM hasn't even been turned on in probably months. It is out being shopped right now (yes, I know I am lazy lol), and should be back in a couple of weeks.

Like Jaz asked above, is the old list still valid?

#280 9 years ago
Quoted from Nexyss:

I haven't had time to play with this in quite a while. My DM hasn't even been turned on in probably months. It is out being shopped right now (yes, I know I am lazy lol), and should be back in a couple of weeks.
Like Jaz asked above, is the old list still valid?

I still have it. I will send out soon

#281 9 years ago
Quoted from CUJO:

Working on a shooter lane guide with Cliffy now on DM so the ball will quit hammering the left post on the way up the ramp.

Woohoo! I'm in, please let me know when this is ready!!!

#282 9 years ago

Has anyone else tried burning the rom sent out by James? I burned it and it verified but it won't boot in my game. Anyone else having this issue? I've tried it three times now. I popped in the old rom and it works fine.

#283 9 years ago

Burnt mine just fine. Works fine. Are you using a 27C801 or 27C080?

#284 9 years ago

27c801 - Same chip I had the previous version of the program on that worked perfect. My mind is blown because after the chip burns. It verifies 100%. I redownloaded the program and ran a checksum on both files and they ended up the same. I'm miffed.

Quoted from Patofnaud:

Burnt mine just fine. Works fine. Are you using a 27C801 or 27C080?

#285 9 years ago
Quoted from Deez:

Has anyone else tried burning the rom sent out by James? I burned it and it verified but it won't boot in my game. Anyone else having this issue? I've tried it three times now. I popped in the old rom and it works fine.

I got led astray by the same symptom for a while. I'm not saying it's your issue, but you could try it. Double check very carefully after you install the ROM and make sure all the pins are actually going in and not sliding over the socket. I went back and forth 3 times and was convinced it was the ROM before I figured out operator error.

Also, make sure you're doing a verify after write on your ROM burner. Lastly, you might be having an intermittent issue with the ASIC on the CPU board. If you have the tool, pull it and reinsert it.

Good luck,
Jaz

#286 9 years ago

burned mine and is working fine as well for me. 27C801

#287 9 years ago

Am I the only one finding this full of bugs? I am going to have to remove this from my game as its not enjoyable playing in its current form. If someone is interested in my .99 copy...$15.- shipped. I realize all the work that went into this but it wasn't ready.

#288 9 years ago
Quoted from msj2222:

Am I the only one finding this full of bugs? I am going to have to remove this from my game as its not enjoyable playing in its current form. If someone is interested in my .99 copy...$15.- shipped. I realize all the work that went into this but it wasn't ready.

Please give more detailed feedback so people can respond to that

#289 9 years ago
Quoted from msj2222:

Am I the only one finding this full of bugs? I am going to have to remove this from my game as its not enjoyable playing in its current form. If someone is interested in my .99 copy...$15.- shipped. I realize all the work that went into this but it wasn't ready.

I haven't tried the .99 version yet, but the previous version in beta was pretty rock solid. Can you be more specific as to what you're finding?

Jaz

#290 9 years ago
Quoted from msj2222:

Am I the only one finding this full of bugs? I am going to have to remove this from my game as its not enjoyable playing in its current form. If someone is interested in my .99 copy...$15.- shipped. I realize all the work that went into this but it wasn't ready.

Troll?

#291 9 years ago

I played for about 1 1/2 hours and I found the claw very clunky and not releasing the ball when activated. When I tilted the game it hung up in tilt mode and kept firing the ball from the trough like in ball save. I had to reset. Another game the claw wouldn't pick up the ball from the elevator and stopped recognizing it, it never went into ball search...had to reset, again. Some things are great on it, I was just saying it still feels like a beta version to me but I hope others really enjoy it...I have had problems with it and uninstalled. My DM now works great so if someone want my copy, $15.- shipped because I am not going to use it.

#292 9 years ago
Quoted from msj2222:

I played for about 1 1/2 hours and I found the claw very clunky and not releasing the ball when activated. When I tilted the game it hung up in tilt mode and kept firing the ball from the trough like in ball save. I had to reset. Another game the claw wouldn't pick up the ball from the elevator and stopped recognizing it, it never went into ball search...had to reset, again. Some things are great on it, I was just saying it still feels like a beta version to me but I hope others really enjoy it...I have had problems with it and uninstalled. My DM now works great so if someone want my copy, $15.- shipped because I am not going to use it.

I am pretty sure you have a bad trough opto. The original williams code was very forgiving and would check for failed switches and compensate accordingly. My code doesn't do that. It assumes that you have a fully functional, perfectly working machine with 5 balls in it. So if you don't, you can get some unexpected behavior.

#293 9 years ago

To be fair, there are some areas that my code is different form the original and some would argue that the original is better in these areas. Here are a few off the top of my head:

1) There is no car crash ball saver. I made explode and car crash worth more points to try to balance the risk-reward here though.

2) If you do a warm reboot (hold down start button in middle of game) then I have been told that things don't always seem to reboot properly. I haven't been able to replicate this on my machine but some people have complained about it.

3) some people have complained that the magnet hold strength is too strong on their machine and that they have to shake the claw a little to get the ball to drop. Again, doesn't do this on my machine - I think not all the machines are quite the same due to age, maybe.

4) my code doesn't allow for a broken trough opto like the original code did. If you have bad optos you can get endless ball serves or other such nonsense. If all your optos are good then you should have no problems.

#294 9 years ago
Quoted from jamescardona:

I am pretty sure you have a bad trough opto. The original williams code was very forgiving and would check for failed switches and compensate accordingly. My code doesn't do that. It assumes that you have a fully functional, perfectly working machine with 5 balls in it. So if you don't, you can get some unexpected behavior.

Thanks James, I will check my trough optos this weekend. It is quite possible as we know how flakey these tend to be.

#295 9 years ago

Tilt has been an issue in James' versions. I believe he got most of that fixed though. but it is something that does need to be fully tested. So everyone that has .99 make sure you play and tilt your game. Tilt is a major issue as a lot of guys play hard. But some guys, myself included, just never tilt, so we don't see the issue. Well at least to one of our drunk friends comes over and plays the game!

#296 9 years ago
Quoted from cfh:

Tilt has been an issue in James' versions. I believe he got most of that fixed though. but it is something that does need to be fully tested. So everyone that has .99 make sure you play and tilt your game. Tilt is a major issue as a lot of guys play hard. But some guys, myself included, just never tilt, so we don't see the issue. Well at least to one of our drunk friends comes over and plays the game!

I usually don't tilt either but with the claw issue the ball had hung. I was trying to free it since it wasn't going into ball search. This is when the tilt issue became apparent.

#297 9 years ago
Quoted from cfh:

Tilt has been an issue in James' versions. I believe he got most of that fixed though. but it is something that does need to be fully tested. So everyone that has .99 make sure you play and tilt your game. Tilt is a major issue as a lot of guys play hard. But some guys, myself included, just never tilt, so we don't see the issue. Well at least to one of our drunk friends comes over and plays the game!

C, you were one of the few beta testers who really put my code through its paces and tried a lot of scenarios that I hadn't thought of. Much thanks to you, my friend.

#298 9 years ago

I burned and installed .99 this past weekend and so far love it. I've heard a few new call-outs, seen a few new animations (Love the John Spartan one for some reason) and I like the overall feel. I am wanting to add the shaker motor, is there a tutorial for this? I found the correct motor (I think) a Johnson HC-970, but need to know what else I need and how to hook it all up. Does someone sell or fab just the bracket? Do I need a power control board? What part of the flasher circuit do I tie into or do I tie in somewhere else? etc. Thanks.

#299 9 years ago

OK, I finally was able to open the installation PDF and I see the shaker installation instructions. So I do need to fab or buy a controller board and apparently a bracket as well.

#300 9 years ago
Quoted from Phetishboy:

OK, I finally was able to open the installation PDF and I see the shaker installation instructions. So I do need to fab or buy a controller board and apparently a bracket as well.

unfortunatly no one is currently making these. Rick from PPS told me he is going to start when MMR comes out as MMR will have a compatible shaker. In the meantime you can fab one up if you are inclined. I need to do that myself.

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